To the Editor:—
I must point out evidences of loose writing in the otherwise excellent paper "Personality in Arterial Hypertension," by Gregory Gressel and others (The Journal, May 21, p. 265). I refer to the words "... other accepted 'psychosomatic affections' (asthma, ulcer, colitis)," and again, repeated later in the paper, "... did not have one of the more common accepted psychosomatic disorders (asthma, ulcer, etc.)."Such glib statements and loose writing create the false breach between psychiatrists and allergists, wholly unwarranted, and produce a false impression on the reader. Hundreds of allergists in this country treat bronchial asthma successfully using the tools of organic medicine; these allergists, too, are aware of the psychosomatic relevance in many of their patients.Certainly, there are psychosomatic factors present in all cases of asthma; in some it is, perhaps, a major factor. Yet there are many cases in which the emotional factor is minimal and,